Which statement best describes Anti-Federalists during the ratification debate?

• A. They supported a strong central government
• B. They favored including a Bill of Rights to protect individual liberties
• C. They wanted a unicameral legislature
• D. They opposed any form of federal government

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is that Anti-Federalists pushed for protections of individual liberties to keep the new national government from overstepping limits. They feared a strong central government could threaten rights unless those rights were spelled out in writing. That’s why they argued for including a Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments—to guarantee freedoms and due process and to limit federal power. In practice, this insistence helped shape ratification by reassuring states and citizens that basic liberties would be protected even under a larger national government.

The other options don’t fit as well. They did not advocate for a stronger central government; they feared it. They didn’t have a defining push for unicameralism as the main point of the debate, and they certainly weren’t opposed to any federal government at all—just to a central government too powerful without protections.